Any chance of showing?

[rachk89]

So going on the basis that I might be able to convince my horse not to act like a total ass when he is with other horses in an arena, I might take him out to shows this year. But not overly sure what he would be good for, been told riding horse or hunters, but I aint too sure. Heres a few pictures to decide for yourselves:

He will obviously be clean(er) and not as fat. I currently have a dark brown GP saddle, would that be ok to use with him and get a matching bridle?

Also can you let me know if you think he is suitable for certain classes what I need to wear for them? I have zero clue as you can tell on showing. My experience is dressage and for that, my two colours are black and white, no exception. He'll get blue stuff if we do show jumping as well.

Thanks for any advice, just know theres a lot of people on here with good showing knowledge and can tell me the right thing.

 

[kassieg]

How big, what breed, how old?

 

[rachk89]

Oh crap that would help wouldnt it. He is 16.2hh, Oldenburg x Connemara (registered as a sport horse), and he is now 7.

 

[humblepie]

Hi I think it is difficult to tell from photos. He is a lovely sort. I would suggest starting off local level and getting feedback. At affiliated level riding horses are quite substantial but have a more floaty movement than a hunter. Both need to be well schooled as the judge rides. Local level sometimes judge rides other times you may just do an individual show. Regardless of which class you wear tweed jacket collar and tie brown gloves beige or primrose breeches. Your horse can wear a snaffle at novice or even open unaffiliated. Plain cavesson noseband. Plain browband for hunter. Coloured browband for riding horse. If you get into it properly you would need a straight cut showing saddle but to start off a general purpose will do. i had a horse who was an affiliated riding horse but did well unaffiliated hunter so definitely at local level you can try both classes for experience and feedback.

 

[rachk89]

Cheers. It would only be unaffiliated first. The way he moves is a bit different to what I am used to he can go round on the lunge and be floating and I can get that out of him when riding but it is not comfortable. He throws you out of the saddle quite considerably and I often find when he is in that mode, his showing off mode, I can't even rise quickly enough to the trot haha. It's difficult to explain there is just so much power.

He only ever rides with a snaffle. I refuse to put anything else in there he needs nothing else.

 

[spacefaer]

He looks more of a hunter stamp than a riding horse (which are more thoroughbred in type).

Correct turnout is tweed jacket, shirt and tie, beige breeches, black boots, brown gloves, showing cane. Velvet hat in either black or navy.
Horse should have cavessson noseband, snaffle (for a novice) or double bridle (for an open class), show saddle, plain black or brown sheepskin numnah, dark girth. No boots, martingales or breastplates.
Horse should be plaited, with either plaited or pulled tail and the tail should be at the correct length for a hunter

Horse needs to be well schooled, go in an outline at all times, in all 4 paces, and be happy for others to ride - the ride judge doesn't want to be the 1st person to get on the horse, other than its normal rider.

He looks nicely covered in the picture, just needs more top line, particularly on his neck and quarters.

 

[rachk89]

He looks more of a hunter stamp than a riding horse (which are more thoroughbred in type).

Correct turnout is tweed jacket, shirt and tie, beige breeches, black boots, brown gloves, showing cane. Velvet hat in either black or navy.
Horse should have cavessson noseband, snaffle (for a novice) or double bridle (for an open class), show saddle, plain black or brown sheepskin numnah, dark girth. No boots, martingales or breastplates.
Horse should be plaited, with either plaited or pulled tail and the tail should be at the correct length for a hunter

Horse needs to be well schooled, go in an outline at all times, in all 4 paces, and be happy for others to ride - the ride judge doesn't want to be the 1st person to get on the horse, other than its normal rider.

He looks nicely covered in the picture, just needs more top line, particularly on his neck and quarters.

I did get told he was a lightweight hunter, but wanted more advice really. Yeah he needs his topline worked on again, through December I havent done much with him so its all gone to hell. His quarters used to be solid muscle and now they wobble.

He can go in an outline in all paces, and he can be ridden by others, but he doesnt overly like it. He puts his ears back for most of the 'torture'. He has only ever tried to throw one guy off and he didnt do that the second and third time he rode him so it was maybe a one off thing. But it does still worry me.

Most difficult part will be getting him prepared for it, like as in cleaning him. He hates his mane being pulled, he hates baths, he sulks the entire time when I wash his tail. He's gonna have to get used to it though, not like he can do dressage when he's mucky either. Thanks for the advice

 

[ester]

He will have to look as if he is enjoying being in an outline!

 

[Pearlsasinger]

If he jumps well, I would put him in local WH classes and see how you get on. His jumping style needs to be more flowing than SJ. Turnout is tweed for you and plaited with brown tack for him as above. He can wear boots for the jumping phase but not for the showing phase. IME it is rare for local workers to have a ride judge, although it does happen, sometimes.
I like the look of him inb the pic although I can't see him well enough to comment on confo.

 

[AdorableAlice]

I did get told he was a lightweight hunter, but wanted more advice really. Yeah he needs his topline worked on again, through December I havent done much with him so its all gone to hell. His quarters used to be solid muscle and now they wobble.

He can go in an outline in all paces, and he can be ridden by others, but he doesnt overly like it. He puts his ears back for most of the 'torture'. He has only ever tried to throw one guy off and he didnt do that the second and third time he rode him so it was maybe a one off thing. But it does still worry me.

Most difficult part will be getting him prepared for it, like as in cleaning him. He hates his mane being pulled, he hates baths, he sulks the entire time when I wash his tail. He's gonna have to get used to it though, not like he can do dressage when he's mucky either. Thanks for the advice

He isn't a show horse for a number of reasons.

If he works with his ears back and finds being engaged enough to be in an outline difficult there will be a reason. Under no circumstances should you present him to a ride judge knowing there is a possibility of bad or dangerous behaviour. Judges, both conformation and ride should be given respect not put in a situation where they could get hurt.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

He isn't a show horse for a number of reasons.

If he works with his ears back and finds being engaged enough to be in an outline difficult there will be a reason. Under no circumstances should you present him to a ride judge knowing there is a possibility of bad or dangerous behaviour. Judges, both conformation and ride should be given respect not put in a situation where they could get hurt.

This above ^

 

[jaffa2311]

I would say local level only, as doesn't really look the perfect stamp of any showing category, to be honest. He looks too fine to be a show cob and not fine enough to be a riding horse/hack. I would try novice ridden, riding club horse, open ridden, mixed WH.

MOST (yes, i KNOW not all) county level show horses are bred to do that specific job, especially show cobs, and therefore you would be up against it! Not to mention the vast amount of show producers competing in these classes.

However, at local level, any horse that can travel with it's head in an 'outline' will usually succeed.

My advice would be to really build up topline and muscle over the back and hindquarters. Pull the mane and shape the tail to improve assets.

Good turnout really does help build an impression and catch the judge's eye in an unaffiliated showing class, as many do not turn out correctly, which really ruins the picture.

I would put a plain, hunter style, flat, cavesson noseband and browband. No flashes, martingales or gadgets.
No martingale stops or reins stops.
A well fitting numnah that is brown, like your saddle. Fleece or sheepskin look much better. No numnah looks fine too.
A good fitting tweed jacket, green would look good with him.
A navy velvet hat with a flesh strap.
Gloves that aren't white.
Black leather, well fitting, clean, long boots.
A tie that matches the jacket.
No boots on the horse.
A suitable bit. I cringe at anything that isn't a simple snaffle or pelham. No gags!
Good plaits, not golf balls!

Enjoy!

 

[nikicb]

I did get told he was a lightweight hunter, but wanted more advice really. Yeah he needs his topline worked on again, through December I havent done much with him so its all gone to hell. His quarters used to be solid muscle and now they wobble.

He can go in an outline in all paces, and he can be ridden by others, but he doesnt overly like it. He puts his ears back for most of the 'torture'. He has only ever tried to throw one guy off and he didnt do that the second and third time he rode him so it was maybe a one off thing. But it does still worry me.

Most difficult part will be getting him prepared for it, like as in cleaning him. He hates his mane being pulled, he hates baths, he sulks the entire time when I wash his tail. He's gonna have to get used to it though, not like he can do dressage when he's mucky either. Thanks for the advice

It doesn't sound as though he is a very comfortable horse. Have you had him checked out by a vet?

 

[rachk89]

Ok gonna try to reply to everyone in one post. My reply in the last post was not great at all, worded very badly so going to rephrase that now.

He will have to look as if he is enjoying being in an outline!

This is where it went wrong. When I said this: "He can go in an outline in all paces, and he can be ridden by others, but he doesnt overly like it. He puts his ears back for most of the 'torture'." I should have used two sentences. He can go in an outline. He goes in one naturally. But while he can be ridden by others, he doesnt like to be and puts his ears back, stamps his feet like a child etc. He is getting better about it, and with women he is alright, its men that can be the problem. But as for him engaging himself, its easy for him. He is never ever on the forehand, he is light as anything in your hands. His main issue at the moment is laziness, but we're working on that and improving quickly with transitions.

If he jumps well, I would put him in local WH classes and see how you get on. His jumping style needs to be more flowing than SJ. Turnout is tweed for you and plaited with brown tack for him as above. He can wear boots for the jumping phase but not for the showing phase. IME it is rare for local workers to have a ride judge, although it does happen, sometimes.
I like the look of him inb the pic although I can't see him well enough to comment on confo.

Yeah someone told me to try WH with him, but we'll need to work on our jumping first. Main issue there is my confidence, he's got no issues jumping other than he does tend to drop his feet at times and thats not just with me. And yay thank god I have a brown saddle.

He isn't a show horse for a number of reasons.

If he works with his ears back and finds being engaged enough to be in an outline difficult there will be a reason. Under no circumstances should you present him to a ride judge knowing there is a possibility of bad or dangerous behaviour. Judges, both conformation and ride should be given respect not put in a situation where they could get hurt.

Sorry, thats where I worded things wrong. I meant he doesnt like being ridden by others a lot and puts his ears back at them. He does what he's told, but he'll stamp his feet once he stops like a toddler would when having a tantrum. He will get better, and god no if I have the slightest hint that he will misbehave, no one will be getting on him. I was mortified when he bucked and reared with the showjumping coach, although that guy wasnt bothered he's used to worse. But its still not what you want to see your horse doing. He's never even done that again with anyone else, other then when he threw in a few bucks when I was on him, and that was because he wasnt getting his own way to go after another horse to play. He needs ridden more with other horses around him, he gets jittery at first but once he realises work has to be done he settles down and ignores them.

I would say local level only, as doesn't really look the perfect stamp of any showing category, to be honest. He looks too fine to be a show cob and not fine enough to be a riding horse/hack. I would try novice ridden, riding club horse, open ridden, mixed WH.

MOST (yes, i KNOW not all) county level show horses are bred to do that specific job, especially show cobs, and therefore you would be up against it! Not to mention the vast amount of show producers competing in these classes.

However, at local level, any horse that can travel with it's head in an 'outline' will usually succeed.

My advice would be to really build up topline and muscle over the back and hindquarters. Pull the mane and shape the tail to improve assets.

Good turnout really does help build an impression and catch the judge's eye in an unaffiliated showing class, as many do not turn out correctly, which really ruins the picture.

I would put a plain, hunter style, flat, cavesson noseband and browband. No flashes, martingales or gadgets.
No martingale stops or reins stops.
A well fitting numnah that is brown, like your saddle. Fleece or sheepskin look much better. No numnah looks fine too.
A good fitting tweed jacket, green would look good with him.
A navy velvet hat with a flesh strap.
Gloves that aren't white.
Black leather, well fitting, clean, long boots.
A tie that matches the jacket.
No boots on the horse.
A suitable bit. I cringe at anything that isn't a simple snaffle or pelham. No gags!
Good plaits, not golf balls!

Enjoy!

See thats what I thought, I didnt really see him fitting in any category, but figured hey it might be fun just to go and have a day out and see what happens. Its something different for him to do rather than just dressage competitions all the time.

Topline is definitely getting worked on, I hate how thin his neck looks now, and how fat he looks. We are working on his mane, but he hates it being pulled. Going to get a solo comb to cut it shorter and make it neater. There is a freelance groom nearby who will keep trying to get him used to pulling, but he's an opinionated horse, I cant see it happening. We'll sort out his tail though, even though I love it so much. As for bits, he is only in a snaffle and always will be, until I'm forced to put a double in for dressage. Hopefully that rule will change..

It doesn't sound as though he is a very comfortable horse. Have you had him checked out by a vet?

He has been checked by a vet and a physio. His saddle is fitted for him as well. He used to have a sore spot on his back caused by ill fitting saddles, but that has definitely gone now thanks to his proper saddle. The physio only found a slight bit of stiffness in his right hock, which we then realised was caused by his saddle needing to be reflocked as it was squint on his back. That has been flocked again and I keep a close eye on it just incase. His leg seems to be fine now.

He definitely is comfortable, he moves very freely and we've even improved his canter majorly. Honestly if this horse coughs/trips, I panic and check him all over. His movement is just his breeding, its natural. No one that has sat on him has said what he does is wrong, its always been very positive feedback on his natural way of going. Those people are professionals too, like riding instructors, jumping coaches, one guy who does showing for a living and before that dressage. He will always be a powerful horse, he will always have that kind of movement that throws people not used to it out of the saddle. But if you are used to it, you're fine. You just need very good stomach muscles to sit to it. I unfortunately still dont have those so while I can sit to his canter (most of the time), I can only do a couple of strides of sitting trot. Hell the first time I cantered him, I almost fell off. I find his canter on the left rein more comfortable than his canter on the right rein too for some reason. I can sit to it no problem on the left rein, right can be a little dodgy at times.

Think I answered everyone, and again sorry for my poor sentence structure before confusing everyone.

 

[KautoStar1]

I still wouldn't put him in the show ring for a ride judge if there is any chance he might rear or buck. Either you need to sort that out for good or you have to accept he wont cope with the show ring environment.

 

[rachk89]

I still
wouldn't put him in the show ring for a ride judge if there is any chance he might rear or buck. Either you need to sort that out for good or you have to accept he wont cope with the show ring environment.

Yes i am aware and have said that if i see the slightest hint that he is going to be a git no one will be getting on him. I won't put other people in danger only professionals ride him now other than myself and i always tell them what he did once to someone just incase he does it again. If he can't cope he won't be doing it. Not gonna put my horse through stress just for a fun day out that's just stupid.

 

[sarahann1]

Something else to consider when it comes to showing, your horse should present as mannerful and balanced in all paces, the rhythm on both reins at all paces should be consistent. Having stewarded with a ride judge at WH I can say they'll very definitely mark you down for inconsistency in these areas.

If his canter feels different from one rein to the next for you, chances are it'll be the same for the ride judge.

It would be worth heading to some shows as a spectator to see what's what. Some judges/centres run showing clinics, these could also prove valuable.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

I would ask an instructor who shows to give you a few lessons and ride him for you for few weeks, it took my BHSII instructor six weeks [riding once a week] to get my boy to start going forwards and another six weeks to start proper schooling, something he found difficult. He was always a horse who needed a good rider and even three weeks at a pro yard when he was newly backed did not really sort him out, it was his nature. I was happy to show him but at a very low level, to be frank it takes a lot of work to get a horse ready for showing, and a good instructor is essential, at almost any level. The horse needs to be in good regular work in order to present a good show. Tail washing and main plaiting is a small problem compared to the preliminary work.

 

[spottybotty]

I would ask an instructor who shows to give you a few lessons and ride him for you for few weeks, it took my BHSII instructor six weeks [riding once a week] to get my boy to start going forwards and another six weeks to start proper schooling, something he found difficult. He was always a horse who needed a good rider and even three weeks at a pro yard when he was newly backed did not really sort him out, it was his nature. I was happy to show him but at a very low level, to be frank it takes a lot of work to get a horse ready for showing, and a good instructor is essential, at almost any level. The horse needs to be in good regular work in order to present a good show. Tail washing and main plaiting is a small problem compared to the preliminary work.

There should be a like button!

 

[rachk89]

Something else to consider when it comes to showing, your horse should present as mannerful and balanced in all paces, the rhythm on both reins at all paces should be consistent. Having stewarded with a ride judge at WH I can say they'll very definitely mark you down for inconsistency in these areas.

If his canter feels different from one rein to the next for you, chances are it'll be the same for the ride judge.

It would be worth heading to some shows as a spectator to see what's what. Some judges/centres run showing clinics, these could also prove valuable.

Thanks for the advice. Need to work on that anyway for dressage so got a lot of work ahead of us and of course he has gone lame thanks to his attempt to get to his favourite mare. She was in season so he ended up trapped in the electric fence (not switched on) so he probably bashed his shoulder then. It's only a pulled muscle so it will get better.

 

[rachk89]

I would ask an instructor who shows to give you a few lessons and ride him for you for few weeks, it took my BHSII instructor six weeks [riding once a week] to get my boy to start going forwards and another six weeks to start proper schooling, something he found difficult. He was always a horse who needed a good rider and even three weeks at a pro yard when he was newly backed did not really sort him out, it was his nature. I was happy to show him but at a very low level, to be frank it takes a lot of work to get a horse ready for showing, and a good instructor is essential, at almost any level. The horse needs to be in good regular work in order to present a good show. Tail washing and main plaiting is a small problem compared to the preliminary work.

That is a good idea although i don't really have many instructors around me and not many are showing experts. Mathew Lawrence comes up a bit and he has ridden harley but only once. So will get lessons with him when i can and i know of only one other but not sure how often i can get lessons from him. I know he won't ride my horse either he won't ride any horse as if he gets injured he has no income so he won't ride anything.

I know of a place an hour away that does fun shows regularly so I can take him to them if I want and get feedback.

 

[mcnaughty]

Take a look at 'The Showing Register'. They are a stepping stone between local and affiliated and have some very good judges... unlike local showing! they also hold excellent clinics and this could sort out a lot of your issues before you spend too much time and money going in the wrong direction. They will advise on which class, turnout, how best to show off your horse etc. I wouldnt even want to hazard a guess at a class as I am into M&Ms!

Grooming! Oh dear, what can I say .... I have owned a LOT of greys in my time and at the moment own a palomino so I KNOW about bathing! You need to tackle that tail NOW! Get those stains out and keep the tail tied up in a tail bag or at least plaited at all times. It needs pulling or trimming at the sides and needs to be level with the hocks in length. Use biological washing powder on the tail (not the dock just the bit with no skin!), leave it on for a while, rinse and repeat, leave on, rinse. Use normal shampoo at the top of the tail but leave on, rinse, repeat. Use shampoo on the legs and scrub the shampoo in with a water brush. It doesnt look like you have white socks but if you do, get some gold label white sock powder. Mix it up into a paste and paint on the sock and bandage overnight. Leave bandages on his legs until just before you go in the ring and leave the tail in a tail bandange too! Invest in a lycra all in one body suit as it will lay the coat and keep him clean! Get black hoof varnish.

Check out Equinational photos for turnout tips too.